I replaced the drive belt today, since the old one seemed stretched. It was having trouble spinning the water out of a cycle, and a lot of belt dust had accumulated under the machine.

I ran the machine with the new belt, and everything seemed fine. Then, the machine wouldn't spin to drain the water again. After looking at the machine, I found that the top part of the pulley had broken off of the motor and the belt slid off, finding itself caught beneath the pulley, spinning and carving rubber from the belt.

I've taken the washer apart, and have the motor in my hands. The problem seems to be the pulley, which has broken off, but has not been removed completely from the center spindle. Can anyone tell me how to get the pulley off of the center spindle? (and how to put a new one on). A new pulley and a new belt should do the trick (thank goodness I bought the lifetime belt warranty!)

Thanks again for the links. I have a dremel, so I'm going to go that way and not invest in a pulley puller. I'm sure I'll regret it, but I've just about reached my patience level with this thing.

One thing. Does it matter which direction the pulley goes on the spindle? I imagine it does, so here's the way it looks. The new pulley has one side that is longer than the other. I assume there is a reason for that, but I have no idea which side is "up"

If anyone can answer this, please tell me if the short or long side is put on closest to the motor? I don't want to muck this up. As I'm sliding it on, will it stop automatically at the correct point, or will I have to mark it first on the spindle with a marker?

A picture would be helpful, but any info is better than none. Thanks!

PS, the part has no directions sent with it, like some of the links have implied. Disappointed!

Finished the repair, with a bit of guessing and common sense. The washer is running extremely well. Not sure how long the repair will last, but for now, I'm pleased with the results.

The removal of the old pulley was done with a dremel, so whoever suggested that, it was a great idea. It was fairly safe as long as you paid attention to when you broke through the pulley and saw the spindle. It was easy to avoid damaging the spindle with the dremel. Step one completed with ease.

Step two was a bit trickier. There is no real good description anywhere to describe how to put the pulley back on. So, my first recommendation would be to buy two pulleys. They are cheap, (postage is more expensive than the part), and if you break it, you are hosed until a new one arrives. I came very close to breaking mine, so consider this a fair warning.

The new pulley has plastic "teeth" visible from one end of the pulley. This is the end that should be "up" or facing you, the installer, as you put it down on the spindle. I found out this by putting it on upside down and realizing immediately that this was the wrong way to go. When I tried to remove the pulley, one of the "teeth" broke, so be very careful to put this on the right way. I only lost one tooth, so I think I'll be ok, at least for a while, but I know it's something that may haunt me in the future.

so, figuring out how to put it on correctly will save you some time and probably some pulley teeth. I hope this helps anyone to follow me.

To review, as you are looking straight down on the bottom of the motor (the part that will be sticking out the bottom of the washing machine), the long spindle (the one that you've removed the broken pulley from), will be staring up at you. Put the pulley on, turning it slightly until you feel the grooves on the spindle line up with the grooves on the inside of the pulley. then, start tapping the pulley down onto the spindle. I used a small socket to fit between the plastic teeth of the pulley and the spindle itself to help the installation. I used a small hammer, and kept after it until it seemed to bottom out on the spindle. I didn't get it the entire way down to the bottom of the markings on the spindle, but very close. I eyeballed the level of pulley and the spindle, and after it looked like they were perpendicular to each other, and the spinning of the spindle with the pulley looked clean to the eye, I installed the motor, reinstalled the belt, and crossed my fingers. When I plugged it in, I started it on a regular wash cycle and it worked perfectly. The belt and pulley also seem to work correctly, and they seem to sit at the same level (again, an eyeball from yours truly). It now has about 10 loads behind it, and it is still running very strong. So, I'll call this project successful and fixed.

I'm sure there are better ways to do this, (a gear puller would be a nice help as well as installation instructions for the pulley), but this is how I did it and it worked for me.

Anyone reading this, I wish you similar success. If someone figures out the correct way to do this, and can post pictures and directions, that would be helpful. Apparently, this pulley melts quite a bit.

I want to say thanks for this thread. I had the same part break on my Maytag washer. The appliance store said that you had to buy a new motor, as the pulley is not available separately. Thanks to Denman for the link. I avoided buying a new (used) washer from craigslist and have the part on its way.

For reference, if you need to pull off the pulley, the gear puller would work best. The shaft of the motor has a polygonal spline that seats -very- snugly within the pulley. Without a gear puller or some other method to secure the shaft while working, you cannot pull hard enough on the pulley to free it without damaging the motor. I used several lever methods to try to get it free, ultimately just cut through it with a small sawzall and a fine blade.

Also, if you go to Denman's link, look at the complete motor assembly. In the information there is a part number for the pulley only; it is not listed in the main list. # AP4024152

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